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November 1, 2009
4:56:22
What can I say for you to fathom running of the five New York City burroughs?...it's a once in a life time experience! An American male won this event and I placed along side him if you go down the list about 2/3! Starting at 10:20 is never a desire of mine being an early riser and the pace wasn't bad considering the number of runners. I enjoyed it and was under 5 hours and only 29 seconds a mile slower then Portland, so considering it was a Pacific to Atlantic flight for me I am very pleased!
Marathon runners are not wired correctly obviously! While preparing for NYC this year there were 1500 lonely training miles, 5 marathons, 2 airline tickets, 3 time zones, a 5 night hotel bill, 3 $100 pairs of shoes, 3 Tylenol PM's, 2 alarm clocks, 1 wake up call (in which the hotel forgot to take into account the 1 hour moving backward of the clocks), 1 early morning Staten Island Ferry ride amongst 43,000 runners and most importantly.....no flu, nada!
Crowd support blew every marathon out of the water and hitting Central Park at mile 23 was a pleasure. I had no time for walls today, I accidentally paced myself too slow the first half so was determined to finish under five, so the crowds played a major part in my finishing strong. The point of running New York City is the experience and that was certainly achieved. I wasn't sure what was more crazy, the sightseeing pace of my wife or the marathon it's self! Together they were insanity, but I survived and loved every minute of it as my health was good for once.
The first bridge was so cool at mile one and running down the different societies that make up New York is mind boggling. When I left the Queensburough Bridge and hit First Avenue it was unbelievable and the crowds were screaming for us the entire time. It was like being the Macy's Parade except we were not allowed to float! :-) When I discovered my miscalculation I was at mile 17, generally where runners start to hit the dreaded wall. My pace was low 11's and mile 20 to 21 was just a bit over 12, so no wall which would be a 14 for me. I can run quicker, but my energy was not high with such a late starting marathon, another day for goals is how I saw it and just loved every minute of this incredible marathon.
At mile 21 I was moving at a fast clip and saw spectators quickly crossing the street. Unfortunately my view was blocked and when I went to go around a jay walker I ran right into a lady with a stroller! I was able to keep my balance and didn't hurt the young lady but was not pleased as it was a dangerous situation. Part of the marathon experience is surviving to the end, which I did thankfully.
Central Park was the best part of this run and high fiving spectators, including New York's finest is such an honor. I was happy when I hit the finish line and spent but not overly tired. I had to walk 15 blocks to get back to the Dakota to meet my wife and I was not thrilled with the medal having a big 40 on it, pretty dull, but it's a medal that means more then most and proudly hangs on my wall. Not sure if I'll get the chance to run this marathon again, but once is a must for any serious marathon runner!
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